Watching rising costs for veterinary visits? Your answer might be a fresh look at pet insurance, giving you more predictable expenses with flexible coverage options.
Mercer Indigo makes finding coverage easy, especially when you have a multi-pet household. Because let’s face it, without insurance, you have three choices:
- Pay as you go: focus on finances in the moment.
- Have a sunk fund: dedicate dollars to an account.
- Pull out a credit card: watch that debt follow you for months.
There’s a sweet spot, though, when pet insurance makes really good sense.
Three Goldilocks Moments For Getting Pet Insurance
When your pet is young
Many vets recommend pet insurance in the first few months of your animal’s life because that’s when there’s likely NO pre-existing conditions.
Once your pet has a chronic illness like allergies or arthritis, you won’t find an affordable plan that helps pay for these conditions. You may also hit a waiting period issue, where a condition is diagnosed in the first weeks of your policy but isn’t covered.
When your pet is athletic
Maybe you like to hunt, dock dive or fly frisbee with your pet. Pet insurance can help pay for treating expensive ligament injuries.
And—just like for people—dogs and cats have specialty surgeries and rehabilitation!
When Fido and Pickles are family
This is a top reason vet-debt gets thrown on expensive credit cards.
Emotion tops reason every time. That’s doubly true when kids are involved. When something happens—a runover injury, a blocked bowel, parvo or infectious peritonitis hits—you want options for reasonable treatments. Pet insurance gives you that.
But Don’t Buy Pet Insurance When This Happens
The Reverse Goldilocks zone is when you have a senior pet with failing health. Because of pre-existing conditions, your pet insurance would exclude the very treatments your pet needs.
You’d be paying for insurance that would cover very little, if anything. Better to get coverage early, before you’re left with those limited funding choices again.
Wait, How Can I Find the Right Pet Insurance?
Pet insurance works a lot like human dental insurance: most are reimbursement policies. You’ll find deductibles, tiers of coverage, and varying reimbursement rates.
You also want to consider types of coverage, whether you want an illness plan, an accident-only one, or add-ons with preventative benefits.
Mercer Indigo is a free website that helps you find the best rates on pet and other insurances. Through direct access to multiple partner carriers, you can find plans and check prices in seconds to find the best option for you and your family.